Unlockable Mini-Machines Prolong Engagement

Read this month’s Headline Release and Market Watch

Using In-Machine Missions to Unlock Bonuses

Jackpot World’s Ultimate Egypt is an extremely unique machine that contains four variants of the same machine with different bonuses, skins, and characters. Ultimate Egypt originally appeared in Lotsa Slots, but the Jackpot World version has one key innovation: Players must complete missions in each variant of the machine to unlock the next variant.

The addition of missions not only gives players a reason to engage longer with each machine but also makes the unlocked machines feel more valuable. Slots designers should consider incorporating similar progressions of unlockable bonuses into new or remastered machines to sustain engagement over a longer period. 

Additionally, separating the bonuses into distinct machines is a novel way of letting players choose their preferred bonus, and it creates the impression of deeper content than simply offering different bonuses within a single machine. Customizable bonuses have been a major trend in the past two years, so apps should continue experimenting with unique ways of letting players make decisions about their bonuses.

Release Trends

Most machines released by tracked slots apps in the past year did not have any progression system. Progressions that combine fill meters and collections, like the progression seen in Ultimate Egypt, were the second most common type of progression.

Progressions are significantly more common in machines that offer reel improvement mechanics. Among machines with reel improvements, progressions that combine fill meters and collections are the most common.

Read our full analysis of Ultimate Egypt in this month’s Headline Release.

Innovative Machine Releases

In Jackpot World’s Fortune Bats Deluxe, players choose from five nets in a fishing mini-game to catch moving fish that grant prizes. Players catch fish in a series of zones, with each zone offering a certain number of attempts. The final zone may award a jackpot.

In Quick Hit Slots’ King of the Wild, the first and last reels act as if they’re adjacent to each other, and paylines wrap around the reel set. Each reel is the start of 20 potential paylines.

In Slotomania’s Gilded Queen, random spins remove all low-value symbols from the reels and upgrade one or more high-value symbols. Filling the reel set with identical symbols awards the grand jackpot, and filling the reel set with identical upgraded symbols awards the double grand jackpot. 

Read our full teardowns of all notable releases in this month’s Market Watch.